Peer-to-peer (P2P) energy markets are gaining interest in the energy sector as a means to increase the share of decentralised energy resources (DER), thus fostering a clean, resilient and decentralised supply of energy. Various reports have touted P2P energy markets as ideal use case for blockchain-technology, as it offers advantages such as fault-tolerant operation, trust delegation, immutability, transparency, resilience, and automation. However, relatively little is known about the influence of hardware and communication infrastructure limitations on blockchain systems in real-life applications. In this article, we demonstrate the implementation of a real-world blockchain managed microgrid in Walenstadt, Switzerland. The 37 participating households are equipped with 75 special smart-metres that include single board computers (SBC) that run their own, application-specific private blockchain. Using the field-test setup, we provide an empirical evaluation of the feasibility of a Byzantine fault tolerant blockchain system. Furthermore, we artificially throttle bandwidth between nodes to simulate how the bandwidth of communication infrastructure impacts its performance. We find that communication networks with a bandwidth smaller than 1000 kbit/s – which includes WPAN, LoRa, narrowband IoT, and narrowband PLC – lead to insufficient throughput of the operation of a blockchain-managed microgrid. While larger numbers of validators may provide higher decentralisation and fault-tolerant operation, they considerably reduce throughput. The results from the field-test in the Walenstadt microgrid show that the blockchain running on the smart-metre SBCs can provide a maximum throughput of 10 transactions per second. The blockchain throughput halts almost entirely if the system is run by more than 40 validators. Based on the field test, we provide simplified guidelines for utilities or grid operators interested in implementing local P2P markets based on BFT systems.

点对点（P2P）能源市场越来越受到能源部门的关注，以此来增加去中心化能源（DER）的份额，从而促进清洁，弹性和去中心化的能源供应。各种报告都将P2P能源市场视为区块链技术的理想用例，因为它具有诸如容错操作，信任委派，不变性，透明性，弹性和自动化等优点。但是，关于硬件和通信基础架构限制对现实应用中的区块链系统的影响知之甚少。在本文中，我们演示了在瑞士的瓦伦施塔特（Walenstadt）实施的现实世界中的区块链管理的微电网。37个参与的家庭配备了75个特殊的智能米，其中包括运行自己的，专用于应用程序的专用区块链的单板计算机（SBC）。使用现场测试设置，我们对拜占庭容错区块链系统的可行性进行了经验评估。此外，我们人为地节制节点之间的带宽，以模拟通信基础结构的带宽如何影响其性能。我们发现，带宽小于1000 kbit / s的通信网络（包括WPAN，LoRa，窄带IoT和窄带PLC）导致区块链管理的微电网运行的吞吐量不足。虽然数量更多的验证器可以提供更高的分散性和容错性，但它们会大大降低吞吐量。Walenstadt微电网的现场测试结果表明，运行在智能米级SBC上的区块链可以提供每秒10个事务的最大吞吐量。如果系统由40多个验证程序运行，则区块链吞吐量几乎完全停止。基于现场测试，我们为有兴趣在BFT系统基础上实现本地P2P市场的公用事业或电网运营商提供了简化指南。